Friday, February 19, 2010

Section 8A Girls Hockey: Wave can’t make Warroad waver Warroad got its repeat here Thursday. The Warriors won the Minnesota Section 8A girls high school hockey title for the second straight season, beating East Grand Forks Senior High 6-0 in the championship game .. Courtest of Grand Forks Herald

WARROAD, Minn. — Warroad got its repeat here Thursday.

The Warriors won the Minnesota Section 8A girls high school hockey title for the second straight season, beating East Grand Forks Senior High 6-0 in the championship game.

The shutout was the 16th this season for Warroad goalie Shelby Amsley-Benzie. She turned back 27 shots, one more save than the Green Wave’s Tamara Twite recorded.

“We gave up more shots than we usually do. But Shelby was outstanding,’’ Warroad coach David Marvin said.

Warroad took a 2-0 lead after one period on goals by Layla Marvin and Brook Story. Then Megan Brettingen scored 6:34 into the second on a crucial goal.

“We had a great chance,’’ Wave coach Jim Scanlan said. “Leah Jensen went in alone. But Shelby made a great save. Then, on the ensuing faceoff, Brettingen scored on a breakaway, so instead of it being a 2-1 game, we’re down 3-0.

“That was a huge swing. We wanted to keep it close going into the third. To get that goal would have been big for us. It’s hard enough to score one goal on (Amsley-Benzie). To have to get three or four by her, that’s tough.’’

Said David Marvin: “Megan out-raced the defense and made a heckuva deke on Twite. That was a big swing.’’

Layla Marvin, Madison Egeland and Story added goals to give Warroad a 6-0 lead after two periods.

“When they had chances, Warroad finished plays,’’ Scanlan said. “Tamara played well. She made a lot of big saves, robbing them a number of times with some huge saves to keep it close.

“We had chances, too. Shelby stoned us. We just couldn’t get anything by her. She made a lot of stops, and a lot of them were on high-quality chances.’’

Warroad takes a 25-1-1 record to the state tournament, which begins Wednesday in St. Paul. Senior High, which was making its first appearance in a girls hockey section final, closed with a 17-10-1 record.
Warroad is the state’s top-ranked team.

“We played as well as we could,’’ Scanlan said. “Warroad is a quality team. It wouldn’t surprise me if they win state. They’re as good a girls hockey team as I’ve ever seen.’’